Sumac Prairie
This is our steepest prairie and largest remnant - 4 or 5 acres. It’s on the slope of our eastern bluff and faces south.
There's a wonderful view of our wetland from the top.
There are a few scattered cedar trees
and the top of the slope is densely covered with sumac.
It has very sandy soil, and several blowout areas which have exposed sand and large animal dens.
The lower part of the slope has very little sumac, and lots of prairie flowers. Here's some Bird's Foot Violet in the spring of 2006.
And Gray Goldenrod in the fall.
It's so steep and exposed that it's the place where I always find the first flowers in the spring.
Plant list:
Agalinis aspera
Amorpha canescens
Anemone cylindrica
Arabis lyrata
Artemisia campestris
Asclepias verticillata
Aster ericoides
Aster oblongifolius
Aster oolentangiensis
Aster sericeus
Bouteloua curtipendula
Bouteloua hirsuta
Bromus kalmii
Campanula rotundifolia
Comandra umbellata
Dalea purpurea
Hedeoma hispida
Linum sulcatum
Lithospermum incisum
Lobelia spicata
Monarda fistulosa
Panicum oligosanthes
Schizachyrium scoparium
Scutellaria parvula var. missouriensis
Senecio paupercula
Sisyrinchium campestre
Solidago nemoralis
Sporobolus heterolepis
Viola pedata